Ratatouille: Portrait of an Artist.

I keep forgetting to poat about this, but I want to say something before this movie is gone from the big screen and you'll have missed your chance to go see it.

Go See Ratatouille.

Are you an actor or writer or artist? Can you appreciate impeccably timed physical comedy? Have you ever felt the pull of the artists motivation leading you away from your obligations to your family?

Well, then this movie is for you!

Forget the lame billboards around town that show Remy and his brother, playing soccer with olives and whatnot. Those scenes are not in the movie. There simpy are no sports parodies in this lovely, lovely film. That's just bad marketing.

Instead, you'll be getting a top-notch, lovingly crafted ode to the life of an artist which is, at turns, hilarious and also very, very touching.

Check out this review of the film from A.O.Scott, the New York Times movie reviewer, by clicking here. Here's a small snippet from his review...

He is also, at least implicitly, a severe critic of the laziness and mediocrity that characterize so much popular culture. He criticizes partly by example, by avoiding the usual kid-movie clichés and demonstrating that a clear, accessible story can also be thoughtful and unpredictable. “Ratatouille” features no annoying sidekick and no obtrusive celebrity voice-work, and while Remy is cute, he can also be prickly, demanding and insecure.

Moreover, his basic moral conflict — between family obligation and individual ambition — is handled with unusual subtlety and complexity, so that the reassurances and resolutions of the movie’s end feel earned rather than predetermined.

And while the film buzzes with eye-pleasing action and incident — wild chases, hairbreadth escapes, the frenzied choreography of a busy kitchen — it does not try to overwhelm its audience with excessive noise and sensation. Instead Mr. Bird integrates story and spectacle with the light, sure touch that Vincente Minnelli brought to his best musicals and interweaves the tale of Remy’s career with beguiling subplots and curious characters.

I know Harry Potter is out this weekend and Michael Bay's CGI junk-heaps are rumbling around downtown L.A., but there's something smaller and quite frankly...better...waiting for you. Don't let this one pass you by.

Cheers,
Mr.B